Over fifteen years ago, Burnaby’s Golf Operations Department recognized that the number of players taking up the game of golf was not going to make up for the numbers of players leaving the game. Burnaby’s golf population was starting to decline.
With this situation in mind, it was decided that we could no longer wait for the future golfers to come to us, and that we had to take a basic level of introduction and instruction out into the community.
Over the past several years, Burnaby’s Golf Operations department has worked hard to take golf out to the children of Burnaby via the schools’ physical education classes. In conjunction with the Burnaby School Board, Burnaby Golf has exposed the game of golf to students at the grade 5 and grade 10 levels throughout the City of Burnaby. The basics of the program are as follows:
Elementary Schools
The Burnaby Golf Elementary School Lesson Program was developed to expose elementary school children to the game of golf. The goal was to create an environment where the children could experience various aspects of the game, all within an environment of fun. The basics of the classes were as follows:
- All the lessons were conducted at the schools. At least two instructors would conduct the lessons. (All instructors have passed a criminal records check as part of Burnaby’s “Children and Vulnerable Persons Protection Program”)
- The lessons were targeted toward the grade 5 level, but additional classes of grade 6 or grade 4 children were held if the instructors had breaks between classes.
- The program for each class would involve four sections, a power point presentation outlining the basics of the game, one putting station, one full swing station, and finally a putting contest for all the class.
- All equipment–clubs, balls and teaching aids–are provided by the Burnaby Golf Operations Department.
- The teacher would still need to be involved in the instruction–mostly to ensure safety of pupils and control of the class.
- There was no charge to the students for this program. In addition to the instructional costs, Burnaby Golf incurred additional costs to develop, schedule and administer the program.
Over the 12 years that this program has been in effect, we have introduced the game of golf to more than 13,000 students.
High Schools
The Burnaby Golf High School Lesson program has been developed to allow high school students in their grade 10 year an opportunity to learn the basics of the game of golf. The program has been growing within the Burnaby School District over the past 15 years to the point where all the schools in Burnaby are or have participating in the program. We are also getting inquiries from Vancouver Schools to conduct the program for their students. The program basics are as follows:
- All instruction will be lead by at least two instructors, at least one who is a C.P.G.A. Golf Professional. (All instructors have passed a criminal records check as part of Burnaby’s “Children and Vulnerable Persons Protection Program”)
- The program follows a four lesson format featuring 3 lessons focusing on the skills of putting, chipping and the full swing. An introductory lesson has been added to the lesson plan. It will be an introduction to the basics of the golf swing, as well as a brief overview of the history, basic rules and etiquette of golf.
- The introductory lesson could be held at either the school or at the golf course. The golf lessons would be held at either of the two City of Burnaby Golf Courses–Burnaby Mountain and Riverway depending upon availability.
- All equipment–clubs, balls and teaching aids–are provided by the Burnaby Golf Courses.
- The teacher would still need to be involved in the instruction–mostly to ensure safety of pupils and control of the class.
- Each student would be charged a fee of $10 plus GST (only $2.50 per lesson) to cover the cost of balls, rental equipment, and instruction.
In addition to the instructional costs, Burnaby Golf incurred additional costs to develop, schedule and administer the program.
This program has been taught to more than 16,000 children over the 14 years that this program has been in effect.
Summary
We felt we needed to do more to take golf out to the community. Currently our golf facilities teach more than 400 individual juniors per year, and more than 500 adults per year. We also host high school golf matches from the Burnaby, Vancouver and Independent School Leagues. By making the effort to take the basic introduction and instruction out to the schools of Burnaby, our efforts have reached more than almost 30,000 students. Many of these students may never have been exposed to the game of golf if it was not for these programs.